Mike Tapp controversy shows there is chaos and confusion among Labour MPs, says Rees-Mogg

The Prime Minister’s refusal to sack Mike Tapp for disagreeing with the Home Secretary on immigration shows that there is chaos and confusion within the parliamentary Labour Party, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.

He said on GB News: “Well, they say treason doth never prosper, for when it doth, none dare call it treason. And this all seemed to be going swimmingly for the Labour Party, that they assassinated a prime minister, they had a new prime minister in waiting, and they could try and pretend that it was a nest of singing birds, that everyone was happy with it, as they all ran round Mr Burnham, sucked up to him, said how much they were supporting him, how marvellous they’d always thought he was, until you get down to policy, and Mike Tapp, a minister in the Home Office, has come up with an immigration policy that is not the government’s.

“Now, collective responsibility is the fundamental constitutional basis of cabinet government, they have to agree one policy. Every minister speaks for the government. The government speaks with one voice. That has been fundamental to our constitution since at least the 1830s.

“Mike Tapp thinks otherwise, but Shabana Mahmood isn’t best pleased, and Shabana Mahmood wants him sacked, and says he’s broken the Ministerial Code. Now, the ministerial code is the Prime Minister’s code of conduct for ministers.

“It’s not an official state document, it’s not a constitutional document, it’s just what the Prime Minister wants to happen, and he is the interpreter of it, the guardian of it, and he’s saying he doesn’t want to fire Mr Tapp.

“So you’re now beginning to see those real tensions come out, and they come down to policy. Shabana Mahmood wants a tough immigration policy, she wants to clamp down on people, she wants to change the terms and conditions of people being in this country. Mike Tapp has come up with a more left-wing solution.

“He doesn’t want to be as tough-minded. He’s not as worried about it. This expresses the view of a lot of people in the Labour Party who, frankly, want open borders. And the Prime Minister, well, he’s never been able to do anything when he had authority, and now he’s sitting in Downing Street, dithering a little bit longer.

“But what does Mr Burnham think, and that unfortunately isn’t very clear, because he’s hinted possibly everything to everybody over the course of his political career, though a few months ago he did back Angela Rayner when she said that Shabana Mahmood’s reforms weren’t British.

“So chaos, confusion, dither, and a constitutional mini-crisis all brewing up at once. Politics remains interesting as ever.”